Russian Literature – Children Books – Russian Poetry – Leo Tolstoy – What Men Live By – Contents
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XII.
And the angel’s body was bared and clothed in light, so that the eye could not behold him, and he spoke louder, as though the voice were coming not from him but from heaven. And the angel said:
“I have learned that every man lives not by the care for himself, but by love.
“It was not given to the mother to know what her children needed for life. It was not given to the rich man to know what he needed for himself. And it is not given to any man to know whether before evening he will need boots for his life, or soft shoes for his death.
“I was kept alive when I was a man not by what I did for myself, but because there was love in a passer-by and in his wife, and because they pitied and loved me. The orphans were left alive not by what was done for them, but because there was love in the heart of a strange woman, and she pitied and loved them. And all men live not by what they do for themselves, but because there is love in men.
“I knew before that God gave life to men and that He wanted them to live; now I understand even something else.
“I understand that God does not want men to live apart, and so He has not revealed to them what each needs for himself, but wants them to live together, and so He has revealed to them what they all need for themselves and for all.
“I understand now that it only seems to men that they live by the care for themselves, and that they live only by love. He who has love, is in God, and God is in him, because God is love.”
And the angel began to sing the praise of God, and from his voice the whole hut shook. And the ceiling expanded, and a fiery column rose from earth to heaven. And Semén and his wife and children fell to the ground. And the wings were unfolded on the angel’s shoulders, and he rose to heaven.
And when Semén awoke, the hut was as before, and in the room were only his family.
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Russian Literature – Children Books – Russian Poetry – Leo Tolstoy – What Men Live By – Contents
Copyright holders – Public Domain Book
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